The American Minervan

Tag: Middle Ages

  • Rhineland Pietists to Mishnaic Period: Medieval and Pre-Medieval Transmission of Jewish Esoteric Traditions

    Rhineland Pietists to Mishnaic Period: Medieval and Pre-Medieval Transmission of Jewish Esoteric Traditions

    ORAL AND INITIATORY Tannaitic and Amoraic periods to the German Pietists. Consider all the well-known lines in Jewish and Christian sacred literature about knowledge for the public and knowledge restricted to the initiated few. RHINELAND PIETISTS, HASIDEI ASHKENAZ INSPIRES 17TH CENTURY GERMAN PIETIST MOVEMENT ⑇ The German Pietists in the 17th to 18th century owe…

  • Medieval Kabbalah and the Transmission of Jewish Mysticism

    Medieval Kabbalah and the Transmission of Jewish Mysticism

    𖣂 Kabbalah is the primary vehicle for the Hebrew sod (or secret wisdom) as written. Representing pre-medieval esoteric traditions, the SeferYetzirah (Book of Formation or Book of Creation) is one of the earliest extant texts in Jewish esotericism and a foundational influence on later Kabbalah. This short, cryptic text describes the universe’s emanative phases through the 32 paths…

  • Limitations of Christian Cabalists and Bible Challenge Authority of Western Esotericism

    Limitations of Christian Cabalists and Bible Challenge Authority of Western Esotericism

    Does the limitations of Kabbalah and the Christian Bible in the Studies of Esotericism blind Western Philosophers? Helena P. Blavatsky challenged the esotericists of her time, who saw in the Bible, the final authority, even in the area of esoteric study. β€œAnd now it has come to this: The student interested in the Secret Sciences…